KABUL - A top Afghan peace negotiator held under house arrest in the United Arab Emirates has been released and returned to Kabul, an Afghan peace council official said on Monday, seemingly closing the door on a peace track favored by President Hamid Karzai.

Agha Jan Mutassim, a finance minister during Taliban rule from 1996-2001, was confined to his home in the UAE after arranging a meeting in Dubai between Afghan and Taliban officials in February.

Afghan and Western officials had seen Mutassim as an influential figure, capable of luring senior members of the Taliban to the peace process.